Vaikom Satyagraha

• A century has passed since the historic Vaikom Satyagraha, which was the pioneering movement for temple access.

Context:

• On March 30, 1924, a nonviolent agitation began at Vaikom, a temple town in the princely state of Travancore. This was the first of several temple admission movements that would soon spread throughout the nation.

About Vaikom satyagraha

• Travancore, a princely state, had a brutal, militaristic, and feudalistic system of custom-ridden governance.
• Lower castes were prohibited from entering any “pure” location, including temples and the streets that surrounded them, as part of the concept of caste contamination, which operated not only on the basis of touch but also on sight.
• In Travancore, a number of social and political upheavals in the second half of the 1800s brought about revolutionary social change.
• Initially, a sizable portion of the lower castes were converted by Christian missionaries who were trying to free themselves from caste tyranny. Second, universal free basic education, especially for those from lower castes, was one of the numerous progressive reforms implemented during Maharaja Ayilyam Thirunal Rama Varma’s (1860–80) rule.
• The complete material and intellectual deprivations of lower castes did not endure, even though religion and custom remained ubiquitous. In Travancore, the Ezhavas in particular proved to be the most well-educated and structured untouchable community.
• Even if a small Ezhava elite had begun to form, ritual discrimination frequently trumped advancements in technology and education.
• Ezhava leader T K Madhavan originally brought up the topic of temple access in a 1917 editorial in his newspaper Deshabhimani.
• The dynamics were altered by the Indian National Congress’s introduction into the scene. When Madhavan met Gandhi in 1921, he was able to get the Mahatma to back a widespread movement to enter temples.
• The Kerala Provincial Congress Committee passed a resolution in the INC’s 1923 Kakinada session addressing anti-untouchability as a major concern. A large-scale public awareness campaign and a drive to convert all public roadways and Hindu temples into avarnas ensued after this. The first satyagraha was held in Vaikom, the site of the sacred Shiva temple.
• The strategic choice made by Madhavan and other leaders was to first concentrate on allowing avarnas access to the four roads surrounding the temple, rather than the temple itself.They were apprehended and stopped right away. Thus, three more individuals entered the restricted highways the following morning and actively sought to be arrested. This continued daily until the police blocked off the entire area and ceased making arrests.
• Protesters fasted and sang patriotic songs while sitting in front of the barricades from that point till September. Prominent figures like Periyar and C Rajagopalachari arrived in Vaikom to provide assistance and guide the demonstrators. Concurrently, counter-agitations continued unabated.
• Gandhi was eventually able to reach a compromise in March 1925: the eastern route, which round the temples, remained off-limits to brahmins, but the other three roadways were made available to all. When the authorities finished building diversionary roads that the lower castes might use “without polluting the temple,” this was ultimately put into practice in November 1925. On November 23, 1925, the last satyagrahi was taken from Vaikom.
• In 1924, the town experienced one of the greatest floods ever recorded, police crackdowns, and opposing social forces, but the Vaikom Satyagraha persevered for more than 600 days. It was a truly extraordinary campaign.

WHITE RABBIT TECHNOLOGY

• Recently, the White Rabbit Collaboration was introduced by CERN.

Context:

• One of the most prestigious hubs for scientific research in the world is CERN, or the European Organization for Nuclear Research. Its primary goal is to understand fundamental physics in order to solve cosmic riddles and comprehend the structure and operation of the universe.

About WHITE RABBIT TECHNOLOGY

• A cutting-edge technology called White Rabbit (WR) was created at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.
• It offers picosecond precision and sub-nanosecond accuracy for synchronization in a variety of applications.
• The Precision Time Protocol (PTP), a global industry standard overseen by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), has combined the open source and standard-compliant technology.
• Its uses go beyond particle physics, which makes it a potent illustration of creativity and open-source cooperation.

Applications Beyond Particle Physics:

• Financial Sector: Financial systems currently make use of White Rabbit.
• Applications for research infrastructures can be found in a variety of research centers.
• Future Quantum Internet: Assessment for application in the following quantum era.
• worldwide Time Dissemination: This technology has the potential to lessen dependency on satellites for worldwide time dissemination.

AFAR TRIANGLE

• According to geologists, a new ocean may arise in five to ten million years as a result of the fracture in the Afar Triangle that runs through the African continent.

Context:

• This split might keep becoming wider over millions of years and finally fill with saltwater, creating a new ocean. However, based on existing geological knowledge and forecasts, this is a process that would take millions of years. It’s an amazing illustration of how our world is ever-evolving and changing.

About AFAR TRIANGLE

• Located in the Horn of Africa, the Afar Triangle, often called the Afar Depression, is a geological depression.
• One of the world’s most active geological zones is the Afar Triangle, which is situated in northern Africa.
• The Arabian, Nubian, and Somali tectonic plates are separating at this location.
• The African continent is splitting apart as a result of the rift system this movement has created.

Geological Context:

• The Afar Triple Junction, located in East Africa’s Great Rift Valley, is the source of the Afar Triangle.
• It crosses across into the Afar Region of Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Eritrea.
• The area is distinguished by its distinct geological features and has produced fossilized examples of the earliest hominins, or extinct members of the phylogeny of humans.
• It is regarded by some paleontologists as the birthplace of human evolution.

Geographical Highlights:

• The lowest point in Africa, Lake Assal in Djibouti, is located in the Afar Triangle and is 155 meters (509 feet) below sea level.
• The Awash River enters the area, creating a slender green belt that supports the Danakil Desert’s flora, animals, and nomadic Afar people.
• The Danakil Depression is the name given to the northern region of the Afar Depression.
• The region is one of the hottest spots on Earth all year round due to its intense heat, severe drought, and little air movement.

Status of Leopards in India 2022

• A report on the status of leopards in India through 2022 has been produced by the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change. About 70% of the anticipated habitat for the species was covered by the survey, which concentrated on 20 states in India.

Context:

• The National Tiger Conservation Authority, Wildlife Institute of India, and State Forest Departments worked together to estimate the leopard population for the fifth cycle.

Key Highlights of the Report on the Status of Leopards in India 2022:

• The number of leopards in India increased by 8% between 2018 and 2022, from 12,852 to 13,874. In the Shivalik landscape, about 65 percent of the leopard population lives outside of protected areas. Just over one-third of leopards live in protected areas.
• The number of leopards in Central India is either stable or slightly increasing (2018: 8071, 2022: 8820), whereas the Shivalik hills and Gangetic plains saw a fall (2018: 1253, 2022: 1109). The Shivalik hills and Gangetic plains experience an annual fall of 3.4%, whilst Central India and the Eastern Ghats experience the highest growth rate of 1.5%.
• The states with the most leopards are Madhya Pradesh (3,907), Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.
• The population of leopards decreased from 839 in 2018 to 652 in 2022 in Uttarakhand, and from 760 in Odisha to 562 in 2022. Goa, Bihar, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, and Chhattisgarh all reported declining populations.
• The greatest population of leopards is found in the Eastern Ghats and Central India, and it is increasing as a result of conservation efforts aimed at preserving tigers.
• Despite the regulatory pressure that tigers place on leopards, the paper emphasizes that leopard numbers are higher in Tiger Reserves than in places outside of Protected places.
• The most common concerns include habitat degradation from mining and other human activity, targeted poaching for tiger and leopard skins and body parts, and hunting of wildlife for bush meat.
• Between 2018 and 2023, up to 59 leopard skins were taken from wildlife traffickers in Odisha. Road accidents also account for a large portion of leopard fatalities.